William Payne

William Payne may refer to:

William Payne (mathematician)

William Payne (unknown – c. 1779) was an English mathematician and the author of books about mathematics, draughts, and whist. Payne was the brother of prominent London bookseller Thomas Payne, who sold his works and published some of them.

Payne's first book, An Introduction to the Game of Draughts, was published in 1756. The dedication and preface were written by Samuel Johnson.

Payne's second book, An Introduction to Geometry: Containing the Most Useful Propositions in Euclid, & Other Authors, was published in 1767.

The book Maxims for Playing the Game of Whist; With All Necessary Calculations, and Laws of the Game was published anonymously in 1773; published by his brother Thomas, it is believed to have been written by William Payne.

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William Payne (painter)

William Payne (Exeter 4 March 1760 – August 1830 London) was an English painter and etcher who invented the tint Payne's grey.

Life and work

Payne was a native of Devonshire, held an appointment in the engineers' department at Plymouth Dockyard, and resided at Plymouth Dock (now Devonport) till 1790, when he came to London, and took up residence in Thornhaugh Street, Bedford Square.

He was already known as a landscape-painter, having exhibited at the Incorporated Society of Artists in 1776, and at the Royal Academy since 1786. Some of his views of slate quarries at Plympton had been praised by his fellow-countryman, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the president of the Royal Academy; and others, drawn in 1788 and 1789, were engraved for Samuel Middiman's Select Views in Great Britain (1784–92).

Payne painted in watercolours and oils, and was also an etcher. He hit upon certain methods which considerably increased the resources of watercolour art, especially in the rendering of sunlight and atmosphere. His 'style,' as it was called, was one which was not only new and effective, but could be learnt without much difficulty, and he soon became the most fashionable drawing-master in London.